


Fangs and Claws: Before the Inu No Taisho

by myravenspirit



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale, Inuyasha - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:35:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25271755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myravenspirit/pseuds/myravenspirit
Summary: Alright there are head cannon's that Touga was not born a royal, but Sesshomaru's mother was. So, I am going back to how Touga began as a brutish cad who eventually falls in love with a human woman near the end of his life. There will be plenty of swearing, familiar side characters. It also ties into chapter 2 of my To Be With Child. Also, check out my Tumblr @myravenspirit.
Relationships: Inu no Taishou/Izayoi, Inu no Taishou/Sesshoumaru's Mother
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I am following a few HC as well as my own that Touga, our beloved Inu papa, was not born into royalty. This is the story before he met the wives, Myoga, Toutousai, Hosenki, everyone. This is going to be my take on how a strong badass demon like Touga became the Inu no Taisho and the first dog dad (sorry, I can't wait for the sequel because in both their own ways, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha are/would be awesome dads!).
> 
> Rated M: Because there is sex and foul language!
> 
> I own nothing. Characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi.
> 
> Enjoy!

Touga was born ordinary. Just an in youkai like the rest of the pack.

But he had claws.

And he had fangs too.

Sharp claws and a strong bite.

He was not one to share his food when he found an animal to eat. No, he was reprimanded often by the clan leader that he was violent, rash, and a brute.

It was no wonder he left his clan in the valley when he was still a youth in terms of demon years.

He was vicious and cruel to his pack members. They were glad to see him go.

Touga was happy to leave them behind.

_Worthless, pathetic, bastards._

He found it easier to travel in his true form, running through the wilds. He found it amusing to terrorize other youkai or even those tiny little life forms, called ningens.

He had no pack, so he had no honour.

But he had his claws and his fangs.

He was satisfied with that for five hundred years.

He loved the tales that little humans spoke about him, that they painted of him. It was truly fascinating. Did they fear him? Admire him? Worship him as a god?

He really didn't care as he turned into his humanoid form and snapped his fingers at a woman as he approached a building. "Come here, onna."

She stared at his handsome face, his purple stripped face. His silver hair hung low over his shoulders and back. His two-tailed pelt trailed behind him. He was beautiful and frightening all at once.

The dark haired woman in a pink kimono walked to him, she was carrying a clay vessel of sake. He could smell it. But he could also scent how this woman had taken an herb to prevent pregnancy. She was one of those women who were educated on sex and how to service a man.

Touga needed a bath and he needed a woman's hand on his tired muscles. He had been fighting countless demons. It was annoying.

"Hai?" She asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes.

He could smell a man all over. Human men's sweat was disgusting to his nose. Clearly, she had been rutted not to long before he entered the village. People mostly stayed out of his way as he walked through it.

"Onna, you will bathe with me and tend to me." He ordered her.

He smelled her arousal. He was probably the most handsome man that approached her in this remote village.

"Hai, milord." She bowed her head and led him to the onsen. He didn't bother correcting her about the lord bit. He was no lord. He certainly didn't look it in his black hakama and grey haori. They were rough and stolen. He figured she had been ordered to or this was her own fantasy.

He slid the door shut and felt hands on his chest, parting his haori. "You stink of another man. Bathe with me." He ordered and pushed her away from him.

Brown eyes glazed over in lust as he pulled off his haori, revealing his sculpted chest. "Hai, milord." She licked her lips and pulled her obi and the intricate bow fell away. He watched as her kimono parted and she turned around to let it fall to her feet, revealing her backside to him.

She was lithe looking but with a round bottom. He would take his time with her. Dropping his hakama, he followed her into the onsen.

He sat across from her and relaxed in the heated water. He watched as the woman washed her long arms. There were bruises there.

"Where did you get those bruises?" He asked with a frown. _Aren't these women supposed to be protected from brutes? Why am I allowed in here?_

She turned brown orbs to him, and she smiled, pink lips painted red. A small blush on her cheek.

She was pretty for a human, he supposed. _Their lives are so momentary. So fleeting. Like ashes, once they float away they are gone forever._ "Does milord care?"

"Iie, it was curiosity. Clean yourself and come here." He ordered her.

He had plenty of coin from the merchant he killed earlier for the clothing. He watched as the woman thoroughly cleaned herself, taking most care between her legs.

"Come here. The scent is gone." He told her. She nodded and walked toward him. He grabbed her wrist and looked at the bruise. "A man held you down." He stated.

"Hai, he did." She replied evenly.

He turned his amber eyes to her and stared into her brown orbs. "Do you know what I am?" He really should have said: _Do you know who I am?_

The woman nodded. Up close, he realized she must've been no older than nineteen summers old. For a human she should have been married and with children at her feet, on her hip, in her womb. He didn't care that she probably had some sad story to tell.

She smirked down at him sitting in the water. "Are you not a fearsome demon lord?"

Touga pulled her down onto his lap and she straddled him easily. She put one hand on his shoulder, the other disappeared beneath the surface and stroked his length. "Oh my, are you blessed my lord." She purred out and worked him up quickly. He gripped her hips, mindful of his claws. He so far liked the onna's services and did not wish to ruin his reputation in this village. He was already driven out of three in the Northwest of the Western provinces.

"Come on Onna," He growled and lifted her hips up.

He could hear her heart beat a little faster. He could smell her rising fear. She had stroked his thick length. He was at her entrance, tip just pushing in. Both of her hands gripped his shoulders. "Onna, relax or this _will_ hurt."

She nodded and relaxed, taking a breath. If he cared, he would have prepared her. He rocked up into her, not knowing why he was taking his time with this onna. "Ah-milord!" She threw her head back as half him was within her. "Oh so big!"

"See, you will certainly find pleasure tonight." Touga rumbled out and snapped his hips up into her. She gasped and he could feel her nails bite into his shoulder. She was wet and tight, like a fist gripping him. He could already feel her body shaking, close to an orgasm. "Really, onna? So soon?"

The woman opened her eyes and smiled softly. "No man has ever been as long or thick as milord." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "It is only day. Do you plan to keep me all day and night? What a wonderful day it is."

Touga's ego swelled and he lifted her and pulled her back down. "Ride me." He ordered and he let go of her waist to lean back, arms spread on the back of the rock walls of the bath. He watched as her hands glided down and rested on his muscled stomach. He watched as she started to move on him. He groaned loudly and tilted his head back, hips moving up to hers. "Hai." He groaned out.

"Milord…may I cum?" She panted out.

"Hai, just don't stop." He leaned forward and watched as the woman moved frantically on him. He was impressed with her.

"Milord-ah-hah!" She screamed out. He grabbed her around the throat and watched as she came on him. None of the other women, youkai or ningen had come for him. He knew what was supposed to happen but had never seen it on a woman's face before. He didn't squeeze her throat, he merely wanted to watch as her orgasm as it ripped through her.

It was something to see as the woman's jaw slacked, cheeks flushed, and he could feel her rippling on his length. Her breath was coming in short gasps, breasts heaving. "Milord?" She asked quietly moments later, brown eyes opening.

He pulled his hand back. "I want to change positions." He told her.

"Milord didn't cum?" She asked softly.

"I am an inu youkai, we are a different breed than other youkai. We last longer." He shrugged.

She nodded and slowly got off of him. "How do you want me, milord?" She asked softly.

"On the floor on your back." He told her as he stood up and followed her swaying hips back out of the bath. She laid down on the floor and he grabbed his pelt and motioned for her to raise herself. She did so and he pushed her slowly back down onto his pelt. "Onna, what is your name?"

"My name?" She asked softly with a small frown.

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "It's boring to call you onna all the time." He grumbled out and saw her smile up at him. "Why do you smile?" He asked as he parted her thighs.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "You are amusing milord. No one asks for my name because that girl died three summers ago. Ah!" She gasped as he hilted himself.

If she didn't want to tell him her name, fine. He would simply fuck her until she came again and again.

888

He looked at the sleeping woman beside him on the mat. She was exhausted and rightly so. He had her three times and she came twice nearly every time. He believed that it must have been a record for ningen women. It was also the first time that a woman took pleasure from him fucking them.

He was a selfish lover.

Usually.

He sat up and stared at the woman laying naked under the blanket in her room. He had paid for the entire night.

Now he felt some anxiety. It was a unusual feeling for him. He didn't even get that feeling when fight youkai.

Why did he care so much for this one woman's pleasure?

He saw a small smile on playing on her lips.

He decided to get up, dress, and leave. He could easily leave through the open door to the porch. He grabbed some of the fruit that was left on a dresser, presumably for the woman. But he didn't care. He would leave her several pieces.

He reflected on their time together. It had been a new experience for him in many ways. He was used to fucking hard and fast.

But this onna, had him go slowly, rocking into her when they were on the onsen floor. How she convinced him to slow down and go more gentle was beyond him.

Maybe it was the kiss.

He never received a kiss before. The pressure of her lips against his was a new feeling. Then she introduced her tongue and he quickly learned to play with her tongue and dive into her mouth.

They had come together.

He chewed the melon slice and stared at the woman. He felt there were three choices in his current situation.

One: He leave now and never look back. Forget about her and move on. She is human after all.

Two: He wakes her up and asks her to leave with him. Why? Because she was the best lay her ever had.

Three: He wakes her up for one more round and leaves in the morning and may or may not see her again.

He dressed and chose option one. He was a youkai and she was a ningen. It would never work. There was also to consider a hanyou child. He would not be the father of a hanyou.

He tied his hakama and tucked his haori in. He didn't have boots to worry about. He wrapped his pelt over his shoulder and around his waist. He really didn't have a preferred method of wearing it like his pack members had. He hadn't found a version he liked yet.

He quietly walked to the open door.

"Milord is leaving without a kiss goodbye?" He heard the woman ask softly. He glanced back and stared at the woman.

"I am youkai. You are a ningen. You will be dead in a blink of an eye to me." He coolly said the words. Either to hurt her or make him leave quickly. Her brown eyes weakened his resolve.

She shrugged indifferently. "You were very passionate for someone who hates ningen. I wish you safe travels milord." She laid back down with her back to him.

That was not the reaction he had expected.

But she was a woman for hire after all.

He leapt off into the night sky, glad to see the village in the distance as he landed on cliff's edge. He turned around and sat down to watch the dawn. It was a peaceful morning.

He crossed his legs and leaned forward; chin propped up in his palm.

He watched as the sky's colours changed from dark blues to greens to oranges and yellows.

Touga looked back to the village and stared at it and then stood up as saw the chaos below. _Samurai? Onna!_


	2. The Knife

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Touga rushes back to the village, but at the same time wondering why he felt the need to do so. ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to keep everything minimal as I have zero interest of upsetting anyone. If you are dealing with traumatic events in your life, know that you always have the right to seek help and there is no shame from it. Healing is a process that should never be silenced.
> 
> With that said, it's not graphic on purpose, but it is mentioned. 
> 
> Trigger Warning: Violence, mentions of rape, and death.

Touga ran through the woods toward the village in his true form. He ignored the slaps and smack of the branches and bushes.

He did not understand why he was rushing to the village. He did not care for the woman, but still…he did not like the look of the soldiers appearing in the village. His inner beast growled long and low and he pressed on.

When he emerged through the woods into the village, he leapt on the first several humans and tore the soldiers to shreds. Blood splattering his white fur. He could smell fire and there were screams before he entered the village.

He smelled fear, he smelled blood, he smelled lust.

He tossed the soldier in his mouth and leapt toward the building where he knew the onna was. He didn't care that other women were being raped in the streets, that men were being killed, that children were needlessly being slaughtered. They were only ningens.

He leapt over the wall and saw the shoji door askew and broken. His heart hammered like it never had before in his nine hundred years existence. He transformed into his humanoid form and ran in, grateful there was no man hurting and raping the woman. But she sat there, holding her side.

He saw the red patch blooming on her white yukata, sprays of blood on her yukata, futon, floor, and pillow. She stared at him and blinked in surprised and then smiled. "Have you come back for me, milord?" She asked softly.

He could smell death approaching to come for this onna. He silently walked over and lifted her up, her blood stained fingers wrapping around his neck as her other hand remained on her wound. "I'm taking you away from this bloodshed, onna." He tersely spoke and left the room and the small manor, lifting off into the air.

The village stunk of nigen male sweat and cum mixed with blood and death. It was a wretched smell. One he did not want to taint the onna with. He found a stream far from the village and set her down gently. She was pale.

He cupped her face. "You are safe from the village." He lied. She was dying in his arms, but she nodded and smiled anyways, closing her eyes. "Milord is kind." She murmured.

He tore off his sleeve of his haori and went to the stream and dipped it into the water. It wasn't necessary to care for her, she was good as dead, but he felt a duty to her in the moment.

_Human are such frail creatures._

He knelt down and brushed back her dark bangs, black lashes fanned across her paling cheeks. Even in death she would be beautiful. Her brown eyes opened slowly. "Milord?" She whispered out gravelily.

"What happened?" He asked her as he washed her face, he noticed finally the blood on her face and the spatters of blood on her yukata were not her own. She had defended herself. She wearily reached into her yukata and pulled out a small knife in an ornate sheath.

She held it out to him with a small smile. "Take it, milord. It is all I have in this world to give to you for your kindness."

He covered her hand gently with his own, "Why would I want a onna's weapon?" He smirked, hoping to hear one more soft sigh of laughter. He only saw a hint of pain and hurt, and she pulled her hand back and laid it on her chest and sighed softly before a bloodied cough wracked her body. He sat her up and held her. "Onna…what is your name?"

"Tsuya…my mother named Tsuya." She whispered and fell limp in his arms. He stared into her open eyes. Her soft pink lips caked in blood at the corners were slightly agape as if she had more to say.

He pulled her close, not caring that she a ningen. "Your name suits your beauty, Tsuya." He pressed a kiss to her brow. "My name is Touga." He pressed his forehead to hers and held her close, not caring if her blood smeared his clothing. He gripped her tightly and felt the sheathed knife press into his belly.

_I should have taken the knife before she died. It was her dying wish._

He wanted to go and tear every man there apart, but it meant leaving the onna, Tsuya, alone. "I will take you somewhere peaceful to rest eternally." He told the dead woman. He closed her eyes and wiped her face and lips clean of blood. He realized that he would have to bury her in her bloodied yukata. He didn't like that idea and took off his haori and stripped her yukata off and dressed her in his haori. He slid the knife into the waist band of his hakama.

Leaving the bloodied cloth and the stream behind he carried her in his arms and wanted to find her a peaceful spot to rest.

He searched for the better part of the day until he came upon a beautiful valley filled with lilies. He looked to the edge of the valley and saw a large tree that stood out to him. It was perfect in his amber gaze.

He carried her across the field and laid her gently down on the grass. He cupped her cheek. It was cold now and she looked at peace even with her beautiful lips he had only kissed the day before changing from the warm pink to blue. "A woman as beautiful as you Tsuya should not have died so young. This valley is yours." He stood up and walked to the base of the tree, he dug her grave with his hands and claws.

Claws meant to kill.

Claws that were now digging a grave for an onna he only knew for a day. A weak ningen onna.

But in their time together. However short it was, he learned that there was more to ningen women than he ever gave them credit for.

Satisfied with the grave space he jumped out and went to Tsuya and placed her gently down into the grave. He piled the soft earth back over her and looked to the field of flowers. He went to them and grabbed several lilies.

He laid them gently on the grave. "There you have it, Tsuya. May you rest in peace." He turned away from the grave and left her there as the sun dipped in the horizon.

He had spent another day on the same woman.

_Ningens are so fragile. So momentary. Goodbye, Tsuya._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think of this chapter? Let me know! Feedback is always appreciated.


	3. Bokuseno

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Touga travels aimlessly after the death of Tsuya before coming upon a strange tree. ...

Touga needed better clothing as he travelled in his humanoid form.

It had been a couple full moons since the time of Tsuya's death. He had yet to find another ningen to bed.

Not that he didn't jump a demoness last moon. She had been enticing enough, her body called to him and he took her roughly. He pounded into her from behind, pulling on her hair. Her screams of pleasure all fake.

He hated thrusting into her, but he had an ache in his loins that needed to be satisfied.

The demoness was not the answer. He bowed his head and panted hard as closed his eyes and thought of the expression that Tsuya wore in her moments of ecstasy. He came hard, pushing into the demoness before pulling out of her quickly.

The demoness was offended when he dressed and left her unsatisfied. _"Really? That's all an inu youkai has to offer? What happened to the rumours about your kind being affectionate lovers, lasting long enough to give a woman such pleasure she reaches heaven, over and over?"_

Insulted, he ripped her heart out.

He was not affectionate. He was never born to care about anyone but himself.

He was not like his ordinary pack.

He was something more.

Touga walked along the road, hidden in the woods. He was waiting for an opportunity to steal something of value. He folded his hands across his chest and huffed to himself. The road had remained empty for the better part of the day.

Something glinted and caught his eyes. The top of the tree foliage let in enough sunlight and it reflected off something shiny. Touga stopped and waited.

It was what he had been waiting for all day. A man, slightly shorter than him and stockier built walked past with an armoured chest guard.

The smell of the village of death came to mind. He hated this ningen for simply existing.

He may not be an honourable youkai, but he had morals.

Somewhat.

Killing children and defenceless female and elderly ningen was one of them. He only ever killed the men.

He whistled as he walked onto the path. The man turned to him and he saw the ningen's eyes widened for a brief second before narrowing and lowering his naginata. "Youkai!"

Touga grinned, "Hai! I want your clothing." He patted his chest, "As you see, I have none."

The ningen ran at him with the intent to skewer him. It was the ningen's fatal mistake as Touga knocked off his helmet and grabbed his head. Touga grinned and snapped the man's neck. The man crumpled and fell onto the ground and Touga hoisted him up onto his shoulder and carried him off to a secluded spot to loot his body.

He found a hidden clearing in the woods far off in the distance. Touga tossed the body down and crouched and started working on the ties of the armour.

"What are you doing young one?" A voice called out.

Touga leapt up to his feet and looked around, hair whipping with his movements. "Who said that?" He listened for a heartbeat, smelled for a scent. He received none.

"Look to your left, pup." The throaty voice called out again. Touga turned and saw a face in the bark of the tree.

"A tree youkai or spirit?" Touga approached and crossed his arms.

The face looked that of an owlish looking man. "You are an inu youkai."

"So?" Touga growled out and glared at the tree, eye to eye. "What's it to you?"

"Why did you kill that ningen?" The tree asked him.

Touga looked over his shoulder at the dead man. "The male of their kind are brute and deserve to die. And…I also needed his clothes. The armour may be of some use too." He looked back to the tree and leaned forward. "Got a problem with that?"

"Iie. But you are a strong youkai and only prey on the weakest of all creatures. Are you afraid to challenge yourself?" The tree asked curiously.

"Eh?" Touga huffed. He uncrossed his arms and cracked his knuckles, "Do you really want to annoy me? I can easily cut you down." He growled out.

The tree had the audacity to laugh.

Touga bent his knees and threw himself at the tree and was thrown back from the tree, he skidded to a halt at the other end of the clearing. "A barrier?"

The tree laughed some more. "You are amusing for a young pup."

"Do not call me a pup! Do I look like I am a pup? I have long stopped nursing from my mother long ago." Touga growled out.

"A lone pup who is brash and doesn't have a brain." The tree thought for a moment. "But maybe it's because you lack purpose in life."

"Purpose? Honestly?" Touga sighed in annoyance. He chose the wrong forest clearing to strip the ningen man.

"I am Bokuseno. And what may I call you?" The tree asked.

"Touga." Touga walked back up the tree, ignoring the dead ningen. "You are a powerful youkai to emerge from a tree."

"Not very powerful, if I am sedentary." Bokuseno responded thoughtfully.

Touga nodded. "Perhaps. So, Bokuseno, what should my purpose in life be?"

"That is for you to figure out. But I can give you guidance and words of wisdom." Bokuseno offered.

"Really?" Touga stared at the tree.

"Hai, perhaps instead of foolishly killing every male ningen you come upon," Bokuseno paused and Touga looked back to the dead man, "maybe you should consider becoming a warrior and protect someone weaker than yourself for once."

"Huh? Don't be ridiculous." Touga scoffed and looked back to Bokuseno.

"You are stubborn. Have you ever thought of someone else other than yourself?" The tree asked him.

A flash of a smiling face, soft lips, and the warm embrace of Tsuya.

That caused an ache in Touga's heart. One day and she stirred something deep within his youkai heart.

"Ah, you have thought of someone. Tell me young Touga, who was she?" Bokuseno asked.

Touga sighed dramatically and nodded. "Hai, hai. You are a perceptive bastard tree. It was a woman."

"Ningen?"

Touga snarled softly. "Do you have little spies? Or are you able to read my mind, perceptive tree?"

"I am a thousand years old. I am wise." Bokuseno would have nodded had he the ability to do so. "Go on, tell me. Who else do I have to tell?"

Touga smirked. "No one." He paused and crossed his arms. "Her name was Tsuya. I had…acquired her services. But it was an experience I had with no one else. She kissed me. None of my other encounters had ever dared such a gesture."

"A hired woman? Curious." Bokuseno hummed out.

Touga raised an eyebrow. "You are judgy for a virgin."

"I am a tree." Bokuseno huffed out. "Continue."

"I left. I never intended to return but I wanted to watch the sun rise on the cliff above the village. That's when I saw _them._ " He glanced back to the dead samurai.

"I see. You returned to her then?" Bokuseno asked, prodding Touga to stay on track and relate his story.

"Hai," Touga looked back to Bokuseno. "She had defended herself with a small knife. The attacker simply stabbed her; he had pierced her organs. I brought her to a stream to die peacefully. She only died once she told me her name. Then I buried her near a valley of lilies and that was that."

"That knife on your hip was her knife. Clearly she meant something to you then." Bokuseno commented.

Touga looked down to his hip where the blade was and pulled it from his hakama. "I had no idea what to do with it. She held it up for me to take. I had teased her, and it had hurt her, I could see it in her eyes. I had known she was dying, and I was cruel in her eyes in her last moments."

"Then my suggestion if you are willing to take it. Is to find someone who can use the blade. Honour this Tsuya's memory in that way." Bokuseno offered.

Touga looked at the small blade in his hand in it's small sheath. _Was that why she gave it to me? To pass on the blade? Or was it for another reason?_

"I've made up mind." Touga said as he walked over to the man and stripped him down quickly. He dressed in the man's clothing and amour. Glad the dead man hadn't shit himself yet. He kept his hakama though and grabbed the black haori and the boots. He slipped on the armour and pulled his hair out of the haori. "How do I look?" He asked as he tied the sash and put the small blade into his haori.

"Ridiculous." Bokuseno chortled.

Touga huffed, "This is what I found."

"That is what you stolen. I know of a youkai smith who may make you more appropriate armour. He has been asking for the past five hundred years for a bough or two and I send him on his way every time." Bokuseno explained.

"A youkai smith? Those exist?" Touga asked.

"You really are young after all. So much so, that you are an idiot. Of course, there are youkai smiths. The one I speak of is a youkai named Toutousai. He lives near a volcano and has made a forge there." Bokuseno explained.

"Why are you telling me this?" Touga warily asked of the tree youkai.

"Because I see possibilities in your future. You need to only grow up and see it yourself and see your own potential." Bokuseno said gently.

Touga lifted up the dead man onto his shoulder. "Whatever you say Bokuseno. I will or will not find this Toutousai you speak of. But I _will_ get rid of this body as I brought it into your space." Touga turned around and walked out of the clearing.

"We will meet again, Touga, that I am sure of." Bokuseno spoke softly and Touga heard him clearly.

Touga shook his head and smirked. "Hai, Bokuseno may we meet again."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: R&Rs are always appreciated.
> 
> I may not be able to update this on a weekly basis with all of the other stories I have going on. I also want to pace this story well. So I think this may join my bi-weekly updates. Let me know what you think.
> 
> ~Raven


	4. Toutousai

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Touga does not know whether or not to heed the words of Bokuseno to find Toutousai. He comes across a youkai at a lake that may have some answers...

Touga wondered if he should heed the words of the tree youkai, Bokuseno.

Touga looked into the lake as he stood on a boulder looking over it. He studied his image. Long silver hair moving with the breeze. Unkempt and knotted. He could see that it needed to be trimmed and combed out. He saw a smear of mud on his cheek from his last battle with a minor wolf youkai. One of his few recent battles. The shoulder guard already busted on his right side.

The experience of the fights had taught him one thing.

"I am a pitiful lone inu youkai." Touga spoke to himself. He looked away from his ratty looking appearance and reached into his haori and pulled out the pristine clean knife and sheath. "I had given up my entire pack because I could not conform. I did not obey the rules of the pack. I was not an honourable pack member. Now look at me, longing for a dead ningen. Keeping the knife as precious memento from a dear lover." Touga sighed heavily and closed his eyes, "Tsuya, you were the first woman to kiss me and probably the last."

"What a sad, sad inu youkai you are!" A man shouted at him, "Take your blathering self-pity away from this lake. You will turn the water sad."

Touga cracked open an eye and saw a man in a ratty green haori. A couple of buckets on the edge of the lake. Touga tucked away the knife and glared at the man. He sniffed the air discreetly and knew that this wide eyed man with large round eyes was indeed a youkai. "Youkai, it is you who should leave this place. If I wish to call this place my own, then it is mine to do what I please within my territory. I can shit and piss all over the place if I wish. If I want to brood, you will let me brood."

The man blinked a couple of times and then threw his head back and laughed. "Ha! I never thought I meet such a feisty inu youkai!"

Touga growled and leapt into the air and threw himself toward the youkai. The man stopped laughing and leapt to the side as Touga met face first into the dirt of the edge of the lake. His chin scrapping along. "Oomph!" Touga huffed out. _Just adding one more scrape._

"Sorry to tell you this, but this has been part of my territory for much longer than you have probably been alive." The man sat down on Touga's back and Touga whipped his head back and hissed at the pain of his hair being twisted and pulled at his own movements. He glared amber eyes at the pinpoint black eyes.

"Fuck you!" Touga spat out. "Get the fuck off of me!"

"My, my, you are insolent and foul mouthed. This is my territory!" The man patted Touga's head. Touga snarled and snapped his jaw and he felt his eyes flash red. The man hopped off. "I seem to hit a nerve."

"No shit!" Touga sat up on his knees and rubbed his chin.

The man grabbed a pail and walked around him to the lake and dipped it in and set it on the edge of the lake and then grabbed the second and repeated the process. "Alright, I will leave you be in peace. I am a merciful youkai. If you do not anger me, we can easily share this land."

Touga crossed his legs and glared at the man. He huffed and crossed his arms as well. "Hmph, I could easily make you submit to me. I am powerful!"

The man tilted his head and scratched at his temple, "Are you? You seem to have weak ningen armour and you do not seem to care for how you appear to others. That is the sign of a youkai who doesn't give a shit about what happens to them. You disgrace your clan, inu youkai _pup_."

Touga stood up and glared at the man. "I am no pup." He spat out and snarled enough to show his fangs.

"Then stop acting like some spoiled pup and become a good inu youkai. If you train hard enough, fight hard enough, accomplish magnificent feats than perhaps you can become a daiyoukai." The man nodded to himself.

"Humph! You are the second in this past moon cycle to tell me similar nonsense. Bokuseno is clearly a baka!" Touga crossed his arms.

The youkai uncrossed his arms and tilted his head to the other side. "Did you say Bokuseno?"

Touga nodded and sighed, "Hai, he went on and on about I needed a purpose and that there was potential within me….eh?! What are you doing?!" Touga shouted the last bit.

The youkai had moved quickly and was grabbing his chin and tilting Touga's head from side to side before grabbing his wrists and looking at his claws.

Touga pushed away from him and growled. A warning to leave him be.

"Curious. Your fang has some power in it, but you are nowhere near your potential. Bokuseno is indeed wise after all." The man turned from him and scratched the back of his receding hair. "Damn that tree youkai always refusing to let me have a bough or two. He wouldn't really feel a thing. But he seems to favour this pup…"

"I'm not a pup!" Touga shouted and then stopped with his mouth wide and agape, "wait…are you…? Iie, you can't be…Toutousai, the youkai smith?"

The man looked back over at him. "Hai, I am. Did Bokuseno send you to tell me that I could have some boughs?"

"Iie." Touga shook his head. "He said that perhaps…you would build me better armour." Touga laughed nervously. _I fucked everything up now._

Toutousai turned to look at him up and down and then sighed heavily. "Really? This is truly a day to not remember. I'm leaving. Do as you please, but I will not make a spoiled brat armour." Toutousai spoke as he went to his pails and lifted them onto the long plank to carry it.

Touga rushed forward and lifted the plank from Toutousai and over his shoulders. "Gomen'nasai. I am truly a pup and I shall earn my armour. Let me carry this water for you."

Toutousai shook his head with a soft chortle. "Stubborn. I see why Bokuseno liked you by first impression. Come along. We will discuss terms of our agreements."

Toutousai walked ahead of him up a path toward the mountainside of the volcano in the distance. _Touga, you are a baka. You nearly missed an opportunity that Bokuseno told you about._ Touga thought as he walked behind Toutousai.

They reached the summit of the volcanic mountain by the time the sun was high in the sky. Touga followed Toutousai into a large cave entrance made from a large skull of a youkai. Touga set the pails of water down and rolled his shoulder as he looked around the small home of the youkai swordsmith. It was definitely a workshop more so than a home.

"You really are a smith." Touga said as he crossed his arms and sat down on the rock floor, still eyeing the tools on the rock wall.

Toutousai nodded and sat down across from him. "Hai. You want armour but I have terms that must be met."

Touga nodded, "Of course, I will agree to them."

Toutousai scratched his head, "I haven't even listed them yet and you are agreeing." He sighed and then nodded, "Alright, first you will spend the next five years training here on the mountain. Then the next three years you will find me the strongest youkai you can and kill them. Mind that you don't kill innocent youkai, only those that are treacherous and are disturbing the peace of the world. Go after ones that torment children, those are the most foulest creatures in existence. Those youkai usually have the toughest skins though, so you will need the material."

Touga raised an eyebrow, "You want me to spend eight years with you?" He scoffed loudly, "Sounds more like you want a friend." Touga slowly stood up and headed to the entrance.

"The metal for the armour will take eight years to make. What is eight years to a youkai anyway? It is a long time for ningen but not us." Toutousai said.

Touga whipped around and marched up to Toutousai and crouched down, flicking his hair back over his shoulder. He narrowed his eyes and growled out, "Eight years on this mountain is a long time, smith."

Toutousai looked at him and nodded, "It won't be easy for either of us but at least I know someone who has some good sake!" Toutousai let out a laugh and turned his head and pointed to the large barrels.

Touga tilted his head and looked to the large barrels of sake along the back wall. He looked back to Toutousai and nodded, "This armour better be worth it, smith."

Toutousai nodded, "I am the best at my craft. Now, if you don't mind, I wish to go take my bath. You can go back down the mountain and collect water for yourself. By the time you get back, I'll be done my bath." Toutousai leapt up and grabbed the pails of water.

Touga followed Toutousai out and didn't bother grabbing the pails as he headed down the volcanic mountain once more. He would take a cold bath in the lake. He certainly was used to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think so far? Thoughts are appreciated.


	5. Burn the Village Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Touga has been training for three years on Toutousai's mountain and Touga tells him to take one of his breaks. Touga agrees and goes down the mountain and finds the village. The scene is too similar to one he was witnessed too many times. There is shout and a cry and he is drawn to it.

Touga wiped his brow as he swung the metal blade that Toutousai gave him to train with. It was heavy and the weight of the blade felt like the weight of a mountain.

Touga grunted and swung the blade down and the turned on the small perch of the post he was to remain on while training. Sweat ran down in rivulets down his torso under the heat of the scorching sun. "Fuck…how much longer…" He groaned and rotated his right wrist slowly.

"Touga!" Toutousai shouted from below on the ground of the mountain. "You should stop training and rest."

Touga hefted the blade onto his shoulder and glared down at Toutousai. "You said I would have to keep training until this felt as light as a feather. It's as heavy as a mountain still!"

Toutousai shook his head. "Take a break. You don't have to train non-stop; you know you are young…you should go for a run!"

Touga rolled his eyes and leapt off the post and landed before Toutousai. He leaned to the right, out of balance, and Toutousai reached out and lifted the blade out of his hand placed it over his own shoulder.

Easily.

It annoyed Touga endlessly to know that Toutousai easily held the blade. _It must be a trick._

"Go on, have some fun. Go bark at some ningens or terrorize them. But don't attack the children." Toutousai tossed his chin toward the bottom of the mountain.

Touga sighed and grabbed his haori from where he left it draped over a low branch and slid it on, pulling his hair over the back of his haori. "Hai, hai." He said before taking off at a quick pace down the mountain. _Better to not argue with him again!_

He had been training for three years with the smith. He wondered if he were going to last as long as Toutousai said it would take for training and the armour to be built.

 _"I'm building it from scratch, from the hides and bones of youkai you will kill. It takes time to harness them finely enough to use."_ Toutousai explained.

Touga's strength had indeed increased since beginning to train on the mountain.

But, which was a big but, he needed to get laid and it was difficult when the only other life on the mountain was another male.

He was not interested in Toutousai.

Nor was he interested in self-pleasure.

Toutousai had graciously indicated that there was a ningen village south of the mountain, a days travel for a ningen.

Touga had made use of that village several times a year since he arrived on the mountain.

Like now, he knew he needed a onna's touch, rubbing his muscles down and letting him push into her and finding his pleasure.

Touga grumbled softly to himself and made his way down the mountain faster and travelled in his true form until he reached the outskirts of the village.

He could smell blood and ash. Fire in the distance.

It was too much like the last time. He growled to himself and barrelled into the town as he heard the cry of a child. He swiped his left paw and the Samurai flew into a house. The sound of bones snapping clear amongst the chaos of the burning village. _Fucking samurai!_

He stood before the screaming child in his true form as he checked on her. The child stared at him with wide eyes in terror. He remained still and saw her blink her eyes in recognition that he was not going to harm her. She stood up slowly and reached a small hand up and out. He was tempted to lower his shout to her touch but then he heard a stampede of pounding feet. He didn't have to turn around to know that the samurai were encroaching on him.

Touga heard the shouts of "youkai!", "It's an Inu!", and, "Kill it!"

He transformed and grabbed the kid in his arms and took off running, dodging the arrows and tossed spears. "For fuck sakes, they would kill you if just to get me!" Touga shook his head.

"Huh?" The child breathed out and stared up at him curiously with dark eyes. "You can change forms?"

Touga looked at the child, a young girl, "Hai, now don't move and I'll get us out of here."

The girl nodded and smiled.

_What a curious child._

Touga leapt over a fallen cart and ran into the woods, one last arrow sliding across his cheek.

 _So much for getting laid._ He huffed and reached the stream and set the child down deep in the woods. "Did you have family there? They are probably dead." He told her bluntly.

She shook her head. "Iie, I lived in the monastery. My mother gave me up after giving birth to me since my father had died in the war. She had wished to remarry, and the man had told her to not bring a child into the marriage." She explained. "I had seen her with a couple of children last summer."

He frowned at her and crouched at the stream and washed the blood off his cheek. "You ningens are cruel to the young. My kind is not. An inu may raise the young of another. There is no discrimination. We are a pack." He washed his hands and looked back at the girl who sat down on a fallen tree.

She looked at him with a smile. She leaned forward and giggled, "Where's your pack, saviour? You are alone."

He flicked some water at her. "I just saved you from having kami knows what done to you and now you are being cheeky?"

She tossed her head back. "The nuns always told me I was mischievous." She looked back to him, "You've been to our village many times over the past three years, why?"

"To have a lay." He stated as he stood up and looked around. "It's getting close to sunset; I'll hide you in a nearby cave on the mountain. Then within a few days, I'll find you a little village with another monastery for you to settle in."

He looked back to her, to see her standing before him with teary eyes. Her kimono covered in ash. She grabbed his sleeve and tugged gently, "Onegai, onegai! Don't leave me. Who will protect me, if not you?"

He placed a hand on her head, and she bowed her head, sniffling gently. "Youaki and nigens don't belong in the same world. I live up at the volcanic part of the mountains. You will stay in the cave; I will bring you everything that you need before the sun fully sets. Alright?"

She looked back up with a pout, "Eh? You come to our village to see the ladies all the time. How don't we belong to the same world?"

He patted her head, "You'll understand when you are older. I am Touga."

The girl hummed softly and then nodded with a smile, "I am Kiyo. The nuns at the monastery wanted me to be pure, so named me Kiyo."

He shook his head, "Come along. The cave is close." He told her and turned away from her. She ran after him and held onto his sleeve of his haori.

 _What the fuck am I doing?_ Touga questioned his sanity as he led little Kiyo to the nearby cave. _How do I explain this to Toutousai? I saved her though, she is safe._

_In a couple of days, I will take her to a nearby village across the mountains in the East, she'll be safe there._

"Touga-sama?" Kiyo asked softly as he let her walk into the cave. She sat down near the mouth of the cave and stared up at him. "Will you promise to come back for me?"

"'Touga-sama'? I am not a lord." But he did give her a nod, "I'll be back shortly, just as I promised, Kiyo." He turned from her and heard softly sing a song quietly to herself.

It was a song of mourning.

She was the only survivor of her village after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be updated in two weeks!


End file.
